With the rollout last week of our new service powered by HRSentry, we gained two invaluable assets: A strategic partner who is engaged and innovative, and a new offering to clients that will build long term brand loyalty and help reposition our company as a valued recruitment resource.
In a previous post, I outlined a key to the negotiation with HRSentry, and shared what I believed were some key considerations that came from that process. But that was only the beginning. As a professional with more than15 years in the business development arena, I know the perils that befall those who focus their attention on “the deal”, then lose momentum or interest once the pen has been put to paper. While the agreements were signed previously, the real work began on September 28, the day we had HRSentry lead a web conference to our sales, marketing, and customer service staff. That day represented the beginning of building engagement and buy-in internally to support this new service.
You see, it really does take a village to raise a healthy, competent, confident, and successful child. In my world, it takes a village to develop a new business initiative to maturity and lasting success. While you may be thinking of the old adage, many hands make light work, there’s much more to it than that. A new business initiative must receive nurturing and attention from many different people and departments within the organization to truly thrive. And long term success in business development is reliant on the maturation and lasting success of each new initiative.
When you are working on an implementation plan or rollout for a new business initiative, be thoughtful about who will help in it’s development, and how. That is, don’t look for the shortest distance between signed contract and abandonment.
As an aside, the ultimate goal of a business development professional is to abandon every new business initiative some day- to push it out of the nest. As it matures and becomes integrated as part of your business, it no longer needs you, and will no longer be viewed as a new initiative.
That shortest distance will normally lead to a lack of nourishment, as you’re not actively seeking out a variety of sources for input and assistance. Here are a few questions you should always consider when developing the implementation plan for a new business initiative- these questions are specific to who should be involved, and to what extent. There are obviously other questions to be considered regarding other aspects of the deal:
- What 5 ways could each department help this initiative develop? (Make a list for EVERY dept!)
- Which departments/people will care the most about the success of this initiative?
- How high up in the company can I count on for support? (Will your CEO lend a hand?)
- At each stage of the process, who can I ask for assistance? (Again, list this out)
- How will I engage people/departments enough to care about this new initiative?
When asking yourself these questions, write out your answers. Also, be sure to consider answers both from within your company, and from without. By going through this exercise, you will uncover new opportunities to nourish and support the development and maturity of your initiative. These are the key to long term success of the initiative, and to your long term success in business developments.
[...] See the rest here: How to Succeed in Business Development, Part 1: It Takes A Village [...]